The University of Évora’s facilities will serve as a “test tube” for testing the recycling and reuse of used batteries from electric vehicles, as part of a European project co-funded by the Horizon 2020 program.
“What to do with all used batteries from electric vehicles? The Renewable Energy Chair of the University of Évora (CER-UÉ)” and the Berlin-based Betteries company (Germany) “are testing the best answers,” said the university on Wednesday.
This promotion of “electric vehicle battery recycling” is an integrated part of the POCITYF – POsitive Energy CITY Transformation Framework project, explained the University.
Financed by the EU through the Horizon 2020 Program, POCITYF has 46 partner entities from 13 European countries, such as municipalities, universities and companies, and will implement its solutions in two pilot cities, the Portuguese city of Évora and the Dutch city of Alkmaar.
According to the university, the German company Betteries delivered the first modules of 2nd life lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles.
The configuration, installation and testing of these batteries in the UÉ facilities were steps already begun.
This is the 1st experimental participation in the POCITYF project in Évora and includes “a period of testing the batteries, through the portable applications of Betteries, the integration in the experimental microgrid of the UÉ and tests with other partners,” said the institution.
In the 2nd phase, “2nd life batteries will be installed in selected homes in the village of Valverde”, in the municipality of Évora.
The German company Betteries “has an experimental approach and works on the development of this type of technology, clean” and “ecological” with the aim of “greater energy efficiency”, explained the UÉ.
The POCITYF project “recognizes the urgency of making heritage cities more sustainable and resilient to climate change, improving the life and well-being of their citizens,” explained the university.
Évora and Alkmaar will test technological experiments with the aim of “establishing areas with a positive energy balance, where the average local renewable generation should be higher than consumption, in terms of annual average”.
Last year, on September 19th, when the project was presented in Évora, João Maciel, responsible for the research and development area of EDP, the entity coordinating the project, explained to Lusa that the solutions tested in these two pilot cities will then be replicated in Granada (Spain), Bari (Italy), Celje (Slovenia), Ujpest (Hungary), Ioannina (Greece) and Hvidovre (Denmark).
